Paper Topic:

Give a critique of Piaget`s stage theory of development.

Jean Piaget 's theory of cognitive stages (Sutherland , 1992 ) proposes that children learn differently from adults and that the development of cognitive ability proceed in stages , starting from infancy to adulthood Piaget believed that a child cannot go on to the next stage unless he /she has mastered the key cognitive skills in a particular stage . The child engage in discovery and exploration of his /her environment and learning occurs when the child is able to distinguish the relationships of ideas and objects through assimilation and accommodation (Wadsworth 1989 . The stages of

cognitive development are the sensorimotor stage (0-2 years , pre-operational stage (2-7 years , concrete operational stage (7-11 years ) and formal operational stage (11 and above . Although the stages cover mostly of childhood , Piaget believed that very few adults get to the formal operational stage wherein abstract thinking is fully developed . He stressed that older children are more capable of learning because their brains are more developed than younger children This emphasized the concept of readiness (Gauvain Cole , 2000 , in that a child has to be ready to perceive and understand new information before he /she can learn any of it

Piaget 's theory although influential has been criticized for ignoring key factors that influences learning such as social context , knowledge language and underestimating children 's capacity for learning . Margaret Donaldson (Sutherland , 1992 ) has argued that a child learns by understanding the situational context of the information given . In a series of modified experiments she was able to prove that children are capable of conservation earlier than Piaget proposed and that children are able to make inferences and to see situations from the point of view of another person thereby challenging Piaget 's concepts of egocentric thinking and readiness . Donaldson further stressed that children can perform better at cognitive tasks if the tasks are placed within a situational context that the child understands . To Donaldson , children learn by making sense of the information in terms of his /her familiar and natural environment . Piaget 's theory also place lesser importance to the role of language in learning . According to Lev Vygotsky , language has a fundamental role in the development of cognitive abilities and learning (Wood , 1998 . Through communicating with others , children are able grasp the meaning and understanding of concepts and information . He also emphasized that learning comes from the outside , wherein the child through his /her interaction with adults and within his /her sociocultural context learn to construct meaning and master appropriate skills . Piaget also said that a child learns by individual exploration , Vygotsky on the other hand said that play is the ideal medium where learning is facilitated since the child is actively acting out behaviors beyond hi /her age . Another theorist who emphasized the role of language and cultural context to learning is Jerome Bruner . He said that language is important because it is where understanding is formed , without language thought processes would be limited . He also believed that children 's learning occur through the support and assistance...

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